Fuse holder



Dec. 10, 1957 o. E. PINE 2,816,193

FUSE HOLDER Filed Jan. 27, 1955 fd f FUSE HOLDER 0l-ie yE.f1ine,Galesburg, Ill., assigner to Midwest Manu-v `iacturing Corporation,Galesburg, Ill., a corporation of lIllinois v "Ibis invention relatesto'improvements in fuses for the United States Patentk O Anobject of theinvention -is to provide a Vfuse holder .where .the fuse may be replacedwithout the use of tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fuse .holder where thefuse being renewed may be inserted Withf.

yout any dangerof contact with an electrical circuit.

.Another .object of the invention is to provide a fuse 1 holder which.is simple, economical to manufacture and easy to service.

2,816,193 Patented Dec. 10, 1957 rice ber and which is preferably madeby deforming the mem- `ber at .this point.

The Yend walls 11 are provided with pairs of openings 33 which areopposite to the apex of the V notches in the .arms of the `contactmember. The contact member is made of a flexible metallic material, suchas copper or beryllium copper, having suitable inherent resiliency. In1operation,.insulated conductors 35 are inserted through the openings 33and when so inserted the contact strip .iiexesinward away from the wall,as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, to such an extent that the wallsdening the V notch 27 may engage with the periphery of the insulation.Then, after the notch is in engagement with .the periphery of theconductor it :is pulled backward outwardly of the housing to theposition as shown by the full lines, in Fig. 1, at which time -the edgesof the member .defining the notch 27 .penetrate the insulation and makegood contact with the wire conductor itself. Thus .a ,connection can bequickly rnade by simply shoving the .end of the conductor through one ofthe holes 33 as far as it will go until it hits the center abutment 15and then pulling it outward a slight distance.

lf'desired, Ventilating holes .36 may be .provided in the v wallofthehousingnear thebase.

.Another object `of the .invention is to provide a fuse l holder anda.receptacle therefor where connections to the wires in the electricalcircuit maybe made without the useof tools. y

Another object of the invention is to provide a fuse holder which iscompact.

vlIn .the drawings:

.T1-lig. l .is a vertical medial sectional view of my invenl )Fig 2 is.a view with the cover removed and looking 4finto the housing of theholder of my. invention;

Fig. 7 is a plan :View Vof -the fuse holder with a fuse I, .inV4position prior to assembly;

l"Figi 8 is an elevational view of a contact member; and Fig. 9 is aplan view of the outer surface of the holder. Briefly, my inventioncomprises a receptacle having contact making strips at its ends adaptedto make contact with wire conductors and a fuse holder and cover, whichcarries the fuse and brings it into contact with the contact strips whenit is forced into position.

More particularly the housing comprises an open ended box of rectangularformation having end walls 11 and side walls 12 which extend at rightangles from a base 13 that may be integral with the walls. Centrally ofthe base there is provided a rectangular boss 15 having a cir* cularcentral opening 16 for receiving the head of a screw 17, which may seatin the bottom of the opening 16 and extend through a hole 18 and bethreaded into a support 19. If desired, positioning lugs 2l) may beprovided for engagement in suitable recesses in the support.

The end walls 11 each have secured thereto a contact member which, as isbest shown in Fig. 8, may comprise a body 21 having a central aperture22 enabling it to be secured to the end walls by rivets 23. Extendingfrom the aperture 22 to the end of the member are a pair of arms or legs25 which are separated by a slit 26 that eX- tends into the aperture.Each of the arms is provided with a V-'shaped notch 27 in its end. Thetips of the arms may bend inward slightly, as can be seen in Fig. l.Spaced from the end of the contact member there is formed a rib whichextends transversely of the mem- The fuse holder comprisesa cap ,portionv4.0 from which there extends upwardly a pair of rectangular bosses 41.connected by ,ashallow neck 42. The periphery of the bosses .41 and theneck 42 are of rectangular formation with the sides providinga close litwith :the side walls 12 ,of the housing. Each .ofthe Ybosses 41 isprovided with .a .transversely extending groove 4.3 spaced from the capYand .extending in a horizontal direction, :as viewed in Each of thebosses is also provided with .an upper p orftion 44 slightly shorter in.length than the supporting bosses 41 and through which is formed alongitudinally .extending slot 45 .extending across .the boss for.approxi- .each other .andare of a width .approximately that of the.thickness of the fuse element to. be used, but slightly larger, topermit easy insertion of the fuse elementand of a depth Vconsiderablygreater than the width of the fuse element.

The fuse element, as shown in Fig. 6, consists of a center fus-ableportion 47 anked by a pair of enlargements 48 which are connected toenlarged ends 49 by short necks 50. It will be appreciated that thewidth of the center 47 for a given thickness of fuse element determinesthe current carrying capacity.

The outer face of the cap is provided with undercut portions 55extending into the cap from opposite sides and providing a strip 56 inthe center of the cap which serves as a handle which may be engaged forremoving the same.

The fuse element, as can best be seen in Fig. 7, is inserted in theslots 45. In this position the enlarged portions 48 are disposed in theslots and the fusible portion 47 is suspended in mid-air between thebosses 41. The necks 5t), which obviously must be larger than theblowable portion 47 in order to insure that it will carry the maximumlamount of current intended, are disposed approximately opposite theends of the bosses 41 and provide a weakened portion which enables theenlarged ends 49 to be bent downward alongside the ends of the bosses41, at which time they extend over the grooves 43. In other words, thefuse element is shoved into the slots 45 and bent down at the ends overthe grooves. It should be noted that this is the only act necessary forthe installation of the fuse element and that it is performed completelyaway from the contacts so that no danger of shock will be encountered.When the fuse element is installed in the holder in the mannerdescribed, the holder is then forced into position in the main housing.This carries the ends 49 over the ribs 30 on the contacts, and, when inposition, the ribs 30 depress the portions of the part 49 into thegrooves 43 on the bosses. This performs the dual function of holding thecap and its fuse in place and making a good electrical` contact with thefuse and the end contact plates.

When the fuse breaks down it is merely necessary to grasp the handle 56and pull the cap out of the housing, after which the burned fuse partsmaybe removed and a new one installed. Because of the depth of the slot45 it will be appreciated that wider fuses may be used, or, when notavailable, two narrow fuses may be used juxtaposed to each other.

It will therefore be apparent that I have provided a fuse assembly thatmay be quickly connected into a circuit without any special tools andWhere the fuse may be renewed quickly, easily and economically.

Having thus described my invention it will be appreciated that thestructure shown in the drawings has been selected largely for thepurpose of illustration, and that various changes in the parts may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as isdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fuse holder unit comprising a housing having opposite end walls,contact strips secured to said end walls being provided With transverseribs and resilient arms having V-shaped notches, said housing beingformed with apertures opposite said notches through which an insulatedwire may be passed to move said arms away from the housing and engagethe wire in said notches, a fuse holder releasably secured within saidhousing comprising a cap member having fuse holding means arranged toextend into said housing, said means being formed with transverselyextending grooves disposed opposite to the ribs on said contact strips,a fuse carried by said fuse holding means and having portions disposedover said grooves and resiliently engaged by said transverse ribs onsaid contact strips whereby said portions are deformed into saidgrooves.

2. A fuse holder unit comprising a rectangular housing having verticallyextending side and end walls and an open face, Contact strips secured tothe end walls and arranged to be engaged with a conductor, said stripseX- tending from near the bottom of the housing to the open face thereofand being provided with transverse ribs spaced from the open face of thehousing, a fuse holder releasably secured within said housing comprisinga cap adapted to overlie the edges of the housing defining said openface and formed with a pair of spaced bosses thereon arranged to extendwithin the housing, said bosses being provided with longitudinallyaligned slots for the reception of a fuse therein and being formed withtransversely extending grooves disposed opposite to the ribs on saidContact strip, fuse means disposed in said longitudinally aligned slotsextending toward the ends thereof and over said grooves and arranged tobe deformed into the grooves by contact with said ribs on said contactstrips, said fuse having a central blowable portion disposed between thebosses and enlarged portions disposed in the bosses and an easilybendable portion spaced from the rib contact ends thereof and disposedopposite to the corners of the bosses.

3. An article of the class described including a wall having openingstherein, a flexible contact member secured to the wall spaced from saidopenings, said member being formed with flexible legs each having aV-shaped notch in `the end thereof with the material defining the notchpartially overlying one of said openings, said member `being arranged tobe pushed away from the openings by aconductor a suicient distance forthe conductor to engage in said notch and the edges of said notch beingarranged to penetrate the wall of the conductor and make contact withthe wire when the conductor is pulled outward of ythe opening, saidmember being provided with a rib spaced from its connection to the Walland opposite from said legs and arranged for engagement with a fuse.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 357,550Chase Feb. 8, 1887 598,106 Lowe Feb. 1, 1898 1,270,335 Schweitzer et alJune 25, 1918 1,952,279 Peterson Mar. 27, 1934 2,333,266 Miller Nov. 2,1943 2,583,530 Hasselbohm Jan. 29, 1952 2,723,327 Gilbert Nov. 8, 19552,725,544 Strange Nov. 29, 1955 2,748,363 Despard May 29, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS 635,943 Great Britain Apr. 19, 1950

